Green-synthesized CdS nano-pesticides: Toxicity on young instars of malaria vectors and impact on enzymatic activities of the non-target mud crab Scylla serrata

Sujitha V 1 , Murugan K 2 , Dinesh D 1 , Pandiyan A 1 , Aruliah R 3 , Hwang JS 4 Show all authors , Kalimuthu K 4 , Panneerselvam C 5 , Higuchi A 6 , Aziz AT 5 , Kumar S 7 , Alarfaj AA 8 , Vaseeharan B 9 , Canale A 10 , Benelli G 11

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, India
  • 2 Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, India; Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore, 632 115, India
  • 3 Environmental Molecular Microbiology Research Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Thiruvalluvar University, Serkkadu, Vellore 632 115, India
  • 4 Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan
  • 5 Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Tabuk, 71491, Saudi Arabia
  • 6 Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, 32001 Taiwan; Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
  • 7 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 8 Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
  • 9 Biomaterials and Biotechnology in Animal Health Lab, Department of Animal Health and Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630004, Tamil Nadu, India
  • 10 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
  • 11 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: benelli.giovanni@gmail.com
Aquat Toxicol, 2017 Jul;188:100-108.
PMID: 28482328 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.04.015

Abstract

Currently, nano-formulated mosquito larvicides have been widely proposed to control young instars of malaria vector populations. However, the fate of nanoparticles in the aquatic environment is scarcely known, with special reference to the impact of nanoparticles on enzymatic activity of non-target aquatic invertebrates. In this study, we synthesized CdS nanoparticles using a green protocol relying on the cheap extract of Valoniopsis pachynema algae. CdS nanoparticles showed high toxicity on young instars of the malaria vectors Anopheles stephensi and A. sundaicus. The antimalarial activity of the nano-synthesized product against chloroquine-resistant (CQ-r) Plasmodium falciparum parasites was investigated. From a non-target perspective, we focused on the impact of this novel nano-pesticide on antioxidant enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities of the mud crab Scylla serrata. The characterization of nanomaterials was carried out by UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopy, as well as SEM and XRD analyses. In mosquitocidal assays, LC50 of V. pachynema-synthesized CdS nanoparticles on A. stephensi ranged from 16.856 (larva I), to 30.301μg/ml (pupa), while for An. sundaicus they ranged from 13.584 to 22.496μg/ml. The antiplasmodial activity of V. pachynema extract and CdS nanoparticles was evaluated against CQ-r and CQ-sensitive (CQ-s) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. IC50 of V. pachynema extract was 58.1μg/ml (CQ-s) and 71.46μg/ml (CQ-r), while nano-CdS IC50 was 76.14μg/ml (CQ-s) and 89.21μg/ml (CQ-r). In enzymatic assays, S. serrata crabs were exposed to sub-lethal concentrations, i.e. 4, 6 and 8μg/ml of CdS nanoparticles, assessing changes in GST and AChE activity after 16days. We observed significantly higher activity of GST, if compared to the control, during the whole experiment period. In addition, a single treatment with CdS nanoparticles led to a significant decrease in AChE activity over time. The toxicity of CdS nanoparticles and Cd ions in aqueous solution was also assessed in mud crabs, showing higher toxicity of aqueous Cd ions if compared to nano-CdS. Overall, our results underlined the efficacy of green-synthesized CdS nanoparticles in malaria vector control, outlining also significant impacts on the enzymatic activity of non-target aquatic organisms, with special reference to mud crabs.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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